Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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84 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW DEFENSIVE LINEMAN M uch debate can take place regarding what Notre Dame's 2018 top unit is when combining star power, experi- ence and depth. Offensive line, cornerback and linebacker all would be prime candidates, but first-year defensive coordinator Clark Lea had his own thoughts at the end of spring while giving kudos to defensive line coach Mike Elston. "Those guys are bought in," Lea said of the defensive line. "Probably from top to bottom, it's our most steady position group right now. They have good depth, and they have experience. "You can tell by the way they practice, they've really taken to this in year two. There's a deeper understanding, and they are more physical in the middle and more dy- namic off the edges. I'm not trying to over- sell it — you always try to be careful there. We feel good about where the front is." It begins with a veteran two deep in which three players who started all 13 games last season — fifth-year senior Jonathan Bonner and senior Jerry Tillery in the interior, plus junior drop end Daelin Hayes — return. The fourth who started all 13 games, strongside end Jay Hayes, left the team in the middle of spring while opting to use his graduate transfer year at Georgia. While Hayes' departure cannot be minimized, head coach Brian Kelly claimed that junior Khalid Kareem was actually becoming an alpha figure at strongside end. "We felt like Khalid had earned the start- ing position there based upon his work both in the weight room and on the football field," Kelly said. "He was going to be the starter at that position. He has a knack for pass rush- ing … some really innate ability to find the quarterback." Tillery seriously contemplated turning pro after a productive junior season, and this year he and fifth-year senior left guard Alex Bars might be Notre Dame's top NFL prospects. Meanwhile, Daelin Hayes is aiming to have the significant sophomore-to-junior- year jump Tillery experienced last year, go- ing from solid and serviceable to potent and playmaking. With guard Quenton Nelson off to the NFL, Hayes is the lone Rivals five-star recruit on Notre Dame's 2018 roster. For good measure, junior drop end Ju- lian Okwara and sophomore tackles Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kurt Hinish are all back in the rotation, and the most improved player on the unit might be junior end Ade Ogundeji, who finished the spring with two sacks in the Blue-Gold Game. "This is my ninth season, and we haven't had this kind of depth and this kind of what I foresee as production out of those two positions," Elston said of the end slots. "The defensive tackle position has to come on and play more violent, more physical, more consistent, more productive …" One way or the other, the 2018 Irish de- fensive line will need to be at the forefront of the team's success. ✦ LEADING FROM THE FRONT The defensive line could be Notre Dame's strongest overall position group Fifth-year senior Jonathan Bonner started all 13 games at three-technique tackle last year, but shifted to nose guard this spring. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL